Should be Cowser time today - but not expecting it

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

Probably will continue to look helpless against lefties if he never gets a chance to hit against them. Can’t look for any improvement if he doesn’t get the reps. 
 

I shudder at the thought of Mountcastle rejoining this team. At least get Mateo out of there so there aren’t two automatic outs in the lineup near each other. 

He has 171 PA against LHP and an OPS of 498.

I'd rather not give him more chances.

[Sports Guy]

Give me Mountcastle and Cowser..send down McKenna and DFA Mateo with the intention of trading him.

I want Ortiz up but one of OHearn/Santander/Hicks/Frazier will need to go.

OHearn was hitting but can Santander be the lefty first baseman?  Can you look to trade AS? Everyone seems to think we would be lost without him but he’s so streaky. Good hitter but if you can move him for pitching help, I would do it.

You can DFA Frazier as well and hope to trade him for a lottery ticket and save some money. I like keeping him but maybe Hicks can be what he is at the plate late in games.

[sportsfan8703]

20 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I’ll say this: O’Hearn really did look helpless against that LHP last night.  There’s a reason he’s had only 7 PA vs. LHP this season.  

Did we watch the same AB?  O’Hearn worked a 3-2 count then hit a missile up the middle to the SS. That AB was the 6th ish inning. I didn’t see later in the game. 
 

Back to the OP, I don’t think we need drastic changes after a L, but we do need to swap out McKenna for Cowser. McKenna is redundant with Hicks being able to play CF and SH. 
 

Is Mateo hurt?  It seems like he cooled off right when he had his leg injury. Hindsight looks like we should’ve IL’d him. 

[Aristotelian]

Elias is not going to DFA Mateo and lose him permanently due to a minor injury to Westburg. Might be a different story if Westburg were to need IL. I don't know who we would lose for Cowser but it is a similar issue. Elias will promote him according to his schedule not to sub for Hays a couple games. Hopefully this is a good sign neither starter has a serious injury. 

It appears Mateo's role now is limited to platoon/utility anyway and he is good in that role.

[maybenxtyr]

2 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Did we watch the same AB?  O’Hearn worked a 3-2 count then hit a missile up the middle to the SS. That AB was the 6th ish inning. I didn’t see later in the game. 
 

Back to the OP, I don’t think we need drastic changes after a L, but we do need to swap out McKenna for Cowser. McKenna is redundant with Hicks being able to play CF and SH. 
 

Is Mateo hurt?  It seems like he cooled off right when he had his leg injury. Hindsight looks like we should’ve IL’d him. 

Dude, there's zero chance that he's hurt just because he's reverted back to his career norms. I mean, he seems like a really likable guy but he's just not a decent ML hitter. There's no underlying reason other than that.

[maybenxtyr]

Just now, Aristotelian said:

Elias is not going to DFA Mateo and lose him permanently due to a minor injury to Westburg. Might be a different story if Westburg were to need IL. I don't know who we would lose for Cowser but it is a similar issue. Elias will promote him according to his schedule not to sub for Hays a couple games. Hopefully this is a good sign neither starter has a serious injury. 

It appears Mateo's role now is limited to platoon/utility anyway and he is good in that role.

What part of Mateo is good in a utility role?

[Aristotelian]

Just now, maybenxtyr said:

What part of Mateo is good in a utility role?

He can play a number of positions and come in to steal a base in a close game. 

[Frobby]

6 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Did we watch the same AB?  O’Hearn worked a 3-2 count then hit a missile up the middle to the SS. That AB was the 6th ish inning. I didn’t see later in the game. 
 

The AB you are talking about came against RHP Ian Hamilton in the 7th inning.  I was talking about his AB vs. LHP Nick Ramirez in the 5th inning.  In fairness to O’Hearn, he had an 8 pitch AB against Ramirez, but in my opinion he couldn’t square up several hittable pitches before striking out.   And the whole idea in that situation is not to strike out.  

[maybenxtyr]

1 minute ago, Aristotelian said:

He can play a number of positions and come in to steal a base in a close game. 

He can only play SS with any degree of certainty. I'm not saying release him for nothing, but the occasional steal doesn't offset how bad he's been at the plate. I'm afraid the only way that they won't put him in the lineup is if he's not on the team.

[7Mo]

1 minute ago, maybenxtyr said:

He can only play SS with any degree of certainty. I'm not saying release him for nothing, but the occasional steal doesn't offset how bad he's been at the plate. I'm afraid the only way that they won't put him in the lineup is if he's not on the team.

It sure looked like they were headed to platooning him with Frazier with Westburg switching from 2B to 3B until Westburg got hit. 

That's not limiting enough....but it's a step in the right direction. 

[maybenxtyr]

2 minutes ago, 7Mo said:

It sure looked like they were headed to platooning him with Frazier with Westburg switching from 2B to 3B until Westburg got hit. 

That's not limiting enough....but it's a step in the right direction. 

Maybe. I don't like disliking a player, but Mateo is terrible at the plate. 

[sportsfan8703]

Hicks is also known for being a streaky hitter too fyi. Right now the whole team is suffering from “Luke Scott” syndrome. That’s why OBP doesn’t slump so often. 
 

Cowser would at least inject some life into the offense. But… we tried that last week with Westburg. After Cowser, we move onto Kjerstad. Maybe we should be doing this though.  These guys are legit top prospects. They aren’t Val Majewski and Keith Reed. 

[maybenxtyr]

3 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Hicks is also known for being a streaky hitter too fyi. Right now the whole team is suffering from “Luke Scott” syndrome. That’s why OBP doesn’t slump so often. 
 

Cowser would at least inject some life into the offense. But… we tried that last week with Westburg. After Cowser, we move onto Kjerstad. Maybe we should be doing this though.  These guys are legit top prospects. They aren’t Val Majewski and Keith Reed. 

They should at some point bring up the rookies. If not for this season, next. I'm not giving up hope on 23 yet, but the team has been fairly pedestrian over the last 36 games. 

 

I did want to add that I'm happy with the promotion of Westburg...I certainly hope people aren't judging him on 19 AB's?

[sportsfan8703]

Just now, maybenxtyr said:

They should at some point bring up the rookies. If not for this season, next. I'm not giving up hope on 23 yet, but the team has been fairly pedestrian over the last 36 games. 

 

I did want to add that I'm happy with the promotion of Westburg...I certainly hope people aren't judging him on 19 AB's?

You shouldn’t give up on this season because of a tough stretch. Hang in there. We Aight. 
 

Not judging Westburg.  Just saying the idea that we can dip into the minors and it cures all of our problems is not true.  We’re in a team wide funk. However… Calling up Westburg was the right move. Calling up Cowser for McKenna is the right move now. Calling up Kjerstad if he keeps mashing its looking like it’ll be the right move in August/September, maybe even Mayo too. 
 

Hopefully, Mateo turns this around, or I think the ASB is when a change will be seriously explored. 

[maybenxtyr]

1 minute ago, sportsfan8703 said:

You shouldn’t give up on this season because of a tough stretch. Hang in there. We Aight. 
 

Not judging Westburg.  Just saying the idea that we can dip into the minors and it cures all of our problems is not true.  We’re in a team wide funk. However… Calling up Westburg was the right move. Calling up Cowser for McKenna is the right move now. Calling up Kjerstad if he keeps mashing its looking like it’ll be the right move in August/September, maybe even Mayo too. 
 

Hopefully, Mateo turns this around, or I think the ASB is when a change will be seriously explored. 

Not really giving up, just tempering my expectations. Things are coming together for the long term, but there's always growing pains. The hitting should come around...the pitching is another story.